This year marks Norway's deadliest whaling season since the industry began ignoring the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ban. In a 2013 statement, the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries says the IWC "has become an exclusively conservationist organization that does not base its decisions on scientific principles," and Norway "has formally reserved the right to disregard" the IWC's zero-catch quota for minke whales.

Norwegians, however, are refusing to eat the whale meat. "We possess more meat than we can sell and that is not a favorable position to be in," says director of the Norwegian fishing company Åge Eriksen to NRK Nordland, translated by the Independent. Of 700 metric tons of whale meat, an estimated 200 will go unsold.